Randa Abdel-Fattah

Randa Abdel-Fattah
Born	(1979-06-06) June 6, 1979 Sydney, Australia
Occupation(s)	Author, sociologist, legal professional
Years active	2001–present
Known for	Advocacy for Palestinian and human rights; novels such as Does My Head Look Big in This? and Coming of Age in the War on Terror

Randa Abdel-Fattah (; born 6 June 1979) is an Australian author, sociologist, and legal professional. She is a vocal advocate for Palestinian and broader human rights, with a particular emphasis on identity and the experience of being Muslim in Australia. Her first novel, Does My Head Look Big in This?, was released in 2005, followed by Coming of Age in the War on Terror in 2021.

Early life and education

Abdel-Fattah was born in Sydney to a Palestinian father and an Egyptian mother but was raised in Melbourne. Her schooling included Catholic primary education and later attendance at King Khalid Islamic College. Inspired by Roald Dahl’s Matilda, she penned her initial novel during sixth grade and began drafting a semi-autobiographical work at age 15, which eventually evolved into Does My Head Look Big in This? published a decade later.

She completed her Bachelor of Arts and Law degrees at the University of Melbourne in 2002. While studying, she acted as a media liaison officer for the Islamic Council of Victoria, addressing media portrayals of Muslims within Australia. Abdel-Fattah earned her PhD in Sociology from Macquarie University in 2016, concentrating on Islamophobia. Her doctoral thesis was subsequently published by Routledge in 2018 under the title Islamophobia and Everyday Multiculturalism in Australia.

Law

Abdel-Fattah’s legal career includes positions as a solicitor at firms such as Slater and Gordon (2001–2003), Lander and Rogers (2003–2006), Thompson Playford Lawyers (2006–2009), and Hicksons Lawyers (2009–2012).

Currently, she is admitted as a lawyer to the NSW Supreme Court and serves as patron of the Racial Justice Centre, which is recognised as Australia's inaugural Community Legal Service dedicated to racial justice issues.

Writing and research

In 2018, Abdel-Fattah was awarded two Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Awards to investigate the sociological experiences of contemporary Muslim and non-Muslim youth. Collaborating with Amanda Wise at Macquarie University, this three-year study culminated in the 2021 release of Coming of Age in the War on Terror by New South Publishing, along with a 2024 article published in the Journal of Sociology.

Her academic contributions are also featured in journals such as Sociological Research Online and the Journal of Intercultural Studies. Abdel-Fattah has authored literature aimed at children and young adults, including the early-reader series Our Stories, which highlights diverse voices through various authors and illustrators. This initiative inspired Australia's first Black-Palestinian picture-story book collaboration titled 11 Words For Love (2023).

Among her novels is the latest work Discipline, released in August 2025. She has also written opinion pieces for prominent publications including the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Guardian, Overland, Meanjin, Al Jazeera English, Le Monde, New Matilda, and The New Arab.

Sociology research

Abdel-Fattah holds a Future Fellowship within Macquarie University’s Department of Sociology. Her scholarly work centres on topics such as Islamophobia, racial dynamics, Palestine, the war on terror, youth identity formation, and activism within social movements.

Views and media engagements

Identifying as a feminist, Abdel-Fattah has expressed critical perspectives on women's rights within Saudi Arabia, championing the autonomy of women in deciding their clothing choices. However, she has chosen to discontinue discussions about the veil, believing such focus detracts from more significant matters.

Her television contributions have included appearances on Insight (SBS), First Tuesday Book Club (ABC), Q & A (ABC TV), as well as Sunrise (Seven Network) and 9am (Network Ten).

Honors and accolades

In 2008, Abdel-Fattah was awarded the Kathleen Mitchell Award, followed by the Inky Award in 2009 for her novel Where The Streets Had A Name. She achieved recognition in 2017 by securing two Victorian Premier's Literary Awards—one for Best Young Adult Fiction and another being the People's Choice Award. Her publication Coming of Age in the War on Terror earned a shortlist position for the 2022 Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction, as well as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards Multicultural NSW Award, and was longlisted for the Stella Prize. Moreover, her work 11 Words for Love was shortlisted in the Children's Award category at the 2023 Prime Minister's Literary Awards.

Other pursuits

Abdel-Fattah is an advocate for human rights who participated as a candidate in the 1998 federal election representing the Unity Party, which campaigned under the slogan Say No to Pauline Hanson. She has contributed to interfaith discussions and volunteered with various organizations supporting human rights and migrant communities, such as the Australian Arabic Council, Victorian Migrant Resource Centre, Islamic Women's Welfare Council, and Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. Additionally, she has played a role in the Palestinian Human Rights Committee and the New South Wales Young Lawyers for Human Rights Committee.

In February 2024, Abdel-Fattah was connected to a doxxing episode involving more than 600 members of an Australian Jewish WhatsApp group named 'J.E.W.I.S.H creatives and academics'.

Personal background

By 2022, Abdel-Fattah was living in Sydney alongside her spouse and four children. She practices Islam devoutly, performing the five daily prayers and observing fasting. She encountered criticism for wearing a hijab and temporarily ceased wearing it at age 17 in an effort to enhance her chances during law firm job interviews.

Controversies

In 2022, Abdel-Fattah was awarded an $870,269 Future Fellowship by the Australian Research Council (ARC) for research on "Arab/Muslim Australian Social Movements since the 1970s," planned to run from 2023 through 2027. She has been outspoken in her criticism of Israel concerning the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, especially during the 2023 Gaza War, which led to her being described as "an anti-Israel activist with $1.28m in taxpayer grants." In early 2025, she made social media posts calling for "May 2025 be the end of Israel" and accused Israel of perpetrating a Palestinian holocaust in Gaza.

During a symposium at Queensland University of Technology, Abdel-Fattah acknowledged repurposing an ARC-funded academic conference into a workshop aimed at women from multicultural backgrounds, expressing her intent to "bend the rules" and "subvert them."

Following these statements and her public anti-Israel position, Education Minister Jason Clare called for an ARC inquiry on 31 January 2025. Subsequently, on 27 February, the ARC suspended her grant pending Macquarie University's investigation outcome, which may require repayment if misappropriation is confirmed.

Publications

• Does My Head Look Big in This? (2005)
• Ten Things I Hate About Me (2006)
• Where The Streets Had A Name (2008)
• Noah's Law (2010)
• The Friendship Matchmaker (2011)
• The Friendship Matchmaker Goes Undercover (2012)
• No Sex in the City (2012)
• The Lines We Cross (2016)
• When Mina Met Michael (2016)
• "Australian Muslim Voices on Islamophobia, Race and the 'War on Terror'" (Bibliography, Meanjin Quarterly, 9 April 2019)
• Arab Australian Other: Stories on Race and Identity, co-edited with Sara Saleh (2019)
• Coming of Age in the War on Terror (2021)
• Maku (children's fiction, co-written with Meyne Wyatt, 2022)
• 11 Words for Love (illustrated by Maxine Beneba Clarke, 2022)
• Discipline (2025)

External links

• Profile of Randa Abdel-Fattah at Macquarie University